‘Not our usual call for service’: OPP capture young bear cub

After wandering the streets of Huntsville over the weekend, a young bear cub was rescued and taken to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau.

The sanctuary, whose motto is rescue, rehabilitate, release, has rescued animals since the 1970s.

The cub, which weighed approximately 15-20 pounds, was only half the size he should have been by this time of year.

“We received multiple calls of a bear cub wandering around the plaza by John and Main street. The mother bear was nowhere in sight,” said OPP Staff Sgt. John-Paul Graham.

After finding the cub in Brendale Square (the old Dollarama parking lot plaza), local OPP officers captured the cub and put him in the back of their cruiser until Aspen Valley officials arrived.

“This was not a usual call for service,” said Graham.

After he had settled in at the sanctuary, the cub began eating and he is now doing well.

This cub is one of over 40 this season that have been taken into animal sanctuaries in the Muskoka area.

Howard Smith, managing director at Aspen Valley, says that this is the highest number of orphaned cubs the sanctuary has ever seen.

“It’s been such a crazy year for bears,” said Sarah Locke, animal care volunteer at Aspen Valley. “A minimum human contact approach is used when rehabilitating bears as it ensures that they aren’t habituated to humans and will be successful once released into the wild.”

If it hadn’t been rescued, the chances of the cub making it would have been slim due to its small size.

The plan for the bear is to keep him in the sanctuary until next summer when he is ready to go back into the wild.

If you see an orphaned bear cub please contact your local OPP or Aspen Valley at 705-644-4122 (animal emergency number).

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